14' long tank
- Thread starter Tracey2
- Start date
Tracey2
New member
Thanks for the comments guys. The tank will be in my livingroom. I have had tanks in my kitchen and other rooms but the livingroom is where we spend most of our relax time so the tank will be enjoyed.
I need some help with lighting. I have in the past run a T5 only tank and a 400W MH & vho tank, I think I had better growth, colour and just really preferred the overall look and flexibility of the T5's.
Problem is I want to keep things clean looking so not too many fixtures and there are not many 12bulb fixtures anymore which is what I think I would need to cover the width of a 36" wide tank. It has been suggested to me that I go with 250W MH which would be a lot cheaper when it comes time to bulb replacement and a cleaner look plus I already own 3 mh ballasts and reflectors.
How would you all light this tank? It will be a mixed reef. What about 250W mh Phionex 14k bulbs and T5's to add some blue??
All suggestions are welcome.
I need some help with lighting. I have in the past run a T5 only tank and a 400W MH & vho tank, I think I had better growth, colour and just really preferred the overall look and flexibility of the T5's.
Problem is I want to keep things clean looking so not too many fixtures and there are not many 12bulb fixtures anymore which is what I think I would need to cover the width of a 36" wide tank. It has been suggested to me that I go with 250W MH which would be a lot cheaper when it comes time to bulb replacement and a cleaner look plus I already own 3 mh ballasts and reflectors.
How would you all light this tank? It will be a mixed reef. What about 250W mh Phionex 14k bulbs and T5's to add some blue??
All suggestions are welcome.
Newbie Aquarist
Reefing is my middle name
You forgot the bedroom and bathroom.Living room ... dining room ... and kitchen!
That is going to be a beast of a tank and certainly a focal point. With respect to lighting, are you going to have a canopy or will it be open-top? If you have a canopy, the clutter wouldn't be seen and you could go with any combination of lights you choose and not have to worry about all the wiring. If you are going open top, how about having a "floating canopy" built which could be hung from the ceiling? You could even get crazy and have an electrician rewire your lights and run them up through the very cabling that would suspend the canopy.
NanoReefWanabe
Active member
what about LED lighting…it has come a long way and there are beautiful tanks with great growth using LEDs…little pricey to set up but over the long run more then pays for itself...
If I had a tank like this, I'd isolate a few coral islands and keep the remainder open for swimming. I'd light the islands as necessary for the inverts but use lesser lights for the open areas. Intended this approach with my current tank, but 7 feet ended up being too short.
Tracey2
New member
Thank you for the suggestions.
The tank has a small fishroom behind it and a basement below for filtration. The lights will just hang behind wood panels in my livingroom so will not be seen.
I have done the canopy with retrofit lighting in the past but really prefer the nice clean look and ease of hanging fixtures rather than trying to raise and lower a canopy.
I don't want to go to LED other than to supplement T5's just to get the shimmer lacking with T5 only.
Maybe I have never found the right bulbs with MH's but I have tried the popular 400W bulbs and really don't see what all the fuss is about, my T5 setup always had better growth, colour and overall beauty.
Problem is I will need a lot of T5's over this tank and the cost of replacing them annually is quite abit more than the 250W mh bulbs, also the cost of the fixtures to fit this length and the fact that I would need more than one fixture front to back makes things messy unless I went with the Giessman 12 bulb fixtures??
I like the idea of just lighting the islands but have never seen this before, I always thought the light should be evenly spread throughout the tank. Anyone know of other tanks lit this way, any pics here on RC?
The tank has a small fishroom behind it and a basement below for filtration. The lights will just hang behind wood panels in my livingroom so will not be seen.
I have done the canopy with retrofit lighting in the past but really prefer the nice clean look and ease of hanging fixtures rather than trying to raise and lower a canopy.
I don't want to go to LED other than to supplement T5's just to get the shimmer lacking with T5 only.
Maybe I have never found the right bulbs with MH's but I have tried the popular 400W bulbs and really don't see what all the fuss is about, my T5 setup always had better growth, colour and overall beauty.
Problem is I will need a lot of T5's over this tank and the cost of replacing them annually is quite abit more than the 250W mh bulbs, also the cost of the fixtures to fit this length and the fact that I would need more than one fixture front to back makes things messy unless I went with the Giessman 12 bulb fixtures??
I like the idea of just lighting the islands but have never seen this before, I always thought the light should be evenly spread throughout the tank. Anyone know of other tanks lit this way, any pics here on RC?
I ran a 10ft tank this way, but it was prior to the invention of the camera, so no pictures unfortunately. No requirement to light a tank equally really, other than perhaps aesthetic. If you do decide to concentrate light requiring animals onto a few islands, then no functional reason to light the open areas to the same levels - I certainly wouldn't!
mtlreeffreak
Member
jesus what what a tank
wowkingjames
New member
And still put corals in there as well.
mtlreeffreak
Member
Who is your tank builder?
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